Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Avoid Muscle Soreness If You Want A Toned And Sexy Body

It is NOT In Your Best Interests To Get Sore If Muscle Tone is Your Goal

Many people take the wrong approach to getting toned. They lift high reps and push their bodies past the point of failure to tone the muscles. The problem with lifting for high reps and "going for the burn" is that it often times causes your muscles to be sore the following day or two after the workout has been completed. The major problem with being sore is that it zaps your energy the following day, making it a drag to go back into the gym.

Muscle Tone is Not A Result of Lifting Hard for High Reps

Muscle tone is a result of low body fat and how "efficient" your muscles are. Muscle efficiency is measured by how strong a muscle is for it's size. If two identical twins had muscles the exact same size and they were at the same level of body fat, the stronger of the two twins would have greater muscle efficiency. This twin would also demonstrate more muscle tone. If you ! want to see an example of great muscle efficiency, think of gymnasts...these athletes are ripped!

Train for Strength Without Damaging the Muscle to Increase Muscle Tone

The best way to train when you want to get ripped is to try to get stronger without performing too many sets. If you keep your overall volume of sets low, you can get stronger without damaging the muscle. Make sure and avoid "training to failure" as well as things like "forced reps". I would recommend picking 3 exercises per body part and doing only 3 sets of 5-8 reps for each exercise.

Spend The Extra Time Doing Cardio...Ideally High Intensity Interval Training

The nice thing about training for strength is that it is a quick workout. You probably can get that part of the routine done in 30 minutes. I would recommend that you do cardio for at least that long. Don't do cardio as an afterthought, it is actually more important than lifting. The best form of cardio is High I! ntensity Interval Training. This is by far the best way to los! e the ma ximum amount of fat.

So to Sum it Up...No Need To Get Sore to Get a Toned Body

About The Author: Rusty Moore is the author of the controversial fitness blog...The Fitness Black Book. Learn fitness strategies give you a sexy lean body instead of a bulky one! Too much muscle is "cheesy"...find out how to look attractive! Visit his site today... www.FitnessBlackBook.com